text: In the Atlantic Ocean, intermediate and deep waters are characterized by a lower content in DSi, compared to the modern Pacific and Southern Ocean. This lower interbasin difference in DSi has the effect of decreasing the preservation potential of opal in the Atlantic compared to its Pacific and Southern ocean counterparts. Atlantic DSi depleted waters tends to produce relatively less silicified organisms, which has a strong influence on the preservation of their frustules. This mechanism in best illustrated when comparing the Peru and northwest Africa upwelling systems. The dissolution/production ratio is much higher in the Atlantic upwelling than in the Pacific upwelling. This is due to the fact that coastal upwelling source waters are much richer in DSi off Peru, than off NW Africa.